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Marshall leaving Conference USA for Sun Belt
By Nick Schultz
Published:
The hits keep coming for Conference USA.
More than a week after 6 Conference USA schools left for the American Athletic Conference, Marshall announced it’s leaving the league for the Sun Belt Conference. Marshall is the ninth Conference USA school to leave the league as part of the most recent conference realignment shakeup. Southern Mississippi and Old Dominion are also joining the Sun Belt from Conference USA.
Marshall has officially joined Sun Belt, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. Marshall becomes 9th C-USA school to leave & 3rd to move to Sun Belt. 1st reported by Athletic. FCS member James Madison expected move to Sun Belt will make it a 14-team league
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) October 29, 2021
𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧.@HerdZone brings the state of West Virginia into the Sun Belt Conference footprint. ☀️ pic.twitter.com/i4rzZf543y
— Sun Belt (@SunBelt) October 29, 2021
The conference realignment dominoes started falling this summer when Oklahoma and Texas announced they’re leaving the Big 12 for the SEC. From there, the American added UCF, Houston, BYU and Cincinnati, and the AAC turned to Conference USA to replace those schools. Now, the Sun Belt is pulling from Conference USA, as well.
The move will be effective no later than July 1, 2023. It’s also safe to say this isn’t the last we’ve heard about conference realignment.
Nick Schultz is a columnist and breaking news writer for Saturday Tradition. A 2020 graduate of Loyola Chicago, he covered the Ramblers' 2018 Final Four run from beginning to end and has worked at NBC Sports Chicago. Follow Nick on Twitter @NickSchultz_7.